Friday, June 29, 2012

Next week the Preservation Commission will consider
nominating the Maydestone Apartments to the National Register of Historic
Places. Built in 1910, the building will be eligible as an important element
contributing to the urbanization of Sacramento in the early 20th
century and as an excellent representative of Mission Revival design in
Sacramento.

Last year the building finished up rehabilitation at
a cost of $7.2 million which restored the building in accordance with the
Secretary of Interior’s Standard of Rehabilitation of Historic Buildings.

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

The L Street Lofts just became more affordable to
those desiring to live at this midtown location. If you want to rent, they
range from $1,825 for one bedroom to $3,150 for a one bedroom Penthouse. If you
would rather buy a condo, Zillow show the sale of a 663 sf. unit on the 6th
floor for $210,000 last April… making the estimated monthly mortgage payment
$758. Buying a unit seems to be the better way to go, but don’t forget the HOA
fees, I believe that’s an additional $250 per month.

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Sacramento’s historic Sacramento Valley train
station has been awarded $15 million by a Federal Grant to rehabilitate the
outdated depot. The money will be matched by local funds to include adding
air conditioning and modern heating, fixing stairs and elevators, renovating
bathrooms, and creating new spaces for leasable use. The city plans include a
restaurant in what is now a large, unused space adjacent to the train depot's
main waiting room. Work is expected to start next summer.

The station was originally built by Southern Pacific
Railroad in 1926 $2.3 million.

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

The first phase of the Green Line connecting downtown Sacramento to the
River District and extending 1.1 miles north to Richards Boulevard and 7th
Street at the Township 9 development, will be ready for service this Friday.

The Green Line will eventually extend light rail 12.8 miles north from
downtown Sacrament through Natomas and the Sacramento International Airport. The
Green Line to the River District will operate as an independent circulator,
connecting to existing tracks south of H Street and operating through downtown
to the 13th Street light rail station.

In conjunction with the City of Sacramento's two major development projects
(The Railyards and Township 9) and the River District Specific Plan, the Green
Line to the River District will provide a key transit link from these
developments to downtown Sacramento.

The Green Line to the River District is RT's first design-build track
construction project.The cost of the
design-build contract is $44.4 million.

Project Benefits

This project is the first phase of a larger project that will provide
improved transit service tot he Natomas communities and beyond. It will also
demonstrate RT's ability to deliver a locally-funded project that supports the
Sacramento region's Blueprint principles by tying transit service to future
development and promoting patterns of smart growth.

The Green Line to the River District will provide public investment in a
corridor identified for redevelopment, which will lead to needed private
investment, and provide immediate benefits to existing businesses along the
corridor.

Trains are expected to operate on a 30-minute frequency and generate an
additional 6,540 daily boarding’s.

Monday, June 11, 2012

Existing parking requirements for all development in
and around downtown Sacramento are currently under review with plans to reduce
or eliminate minimum parking standards. The City’s Planning Commission has been
discussing plans to reduce minimum parking standards over time to promote
walkable neighborhoods and districts and to increase the use of transit and
bicycles.

According to the published reports; The Zoning
Code’s parking requirements for new land uses are outdated and designed primarily
for suburban development, as opposed to redeveloping our existing urban and traditional
neighborhoods. These existing neighborhoods often include the reuse of lots and
buildings that were created prior to the significant increase in the use of the
automobile.

The City of Sacramento Zoning Code Parking Update is
a citywide effort to fundamentally reform how Sacramento plans, designs,
builds, evaluates, and thinks about its parking resources.

Throughout Sacramento there is a large amount of
publicly available parking that already exists, but is largely underutilized.
While several stakeholders mentioned that on-street parking congestion is a key
concern, data show that there is ample off-street parking capacity at peak
hour, with almost 46,000 vacant spaces in the Center City alone.

It is increasingly difficult to fit the current
amount of parking required into a buildable project as the site and project
become smaller.

The Problem:

• Parking requirements can create substantial
challenges to not only the cost, design, and development of infill projects but
also the community’s perceived negative impacts of the new development.

• Current regulations do not acknowledge the
benefits of mixed-use, walkable neighborhoods that are well-served by transit
in terms of reducing trips and the need for parking; they also do not provide
incentives for owners of existing parking facilities to share their parking
when it is not being used.

• Current regulations are inflexible both in how
off-street parking can be provided but also in how parking lots are designed.

• Many existing infill sites contain little or no
parking.

• New infill development is often expensive and
cannot afford the cost or space required for suburban parking standards.

Wednesday, June 06, 2012

This summer, Downtown Sacramento Partnership and
local downtown businesses have joined forces to create a budget-friendly happy
hour promotion for the Downtown District. Each restaurant or bar participating
in Cap City Sips will offer a happy hour menu every Wednesday from 3-7pm featuring
$2 beers, $3 wine, and $4 cocktails. The deals will continue each week all
summer long, today through August 29. Since the price points are exactly the
same at each participating location, patrons will have a chance to try multiple
venues throughout the course of the 3-monthpromotion.